Just when my brain tuned off to the sound of ducks quacking and cocks crowing, I got a whole flock of doves cooing this morning. I packed to get ready for another leg of my journey to the volcano, Mount Batur in Kintamani! Alright, I wasn’t going to climb the mountain in my Crocalikes but I was definitely going to learn of the culture of the Balinese living in the crater.
Padram, my chauffeur from Surya Hotel, arrived to pick me up for the hour-long journey to Kintamani. Stopping at the rice terrace at Ceking, the view was superb. I was approached by women trying to sell me their goods but I didn’t think Air Asia would give me free baggage allowance if I were to give in to my impulse buying.
As he drove pass acres and acres of padi fields, I asked him about this thing I’d learnt about a type of alcohol called Arak Katak, literally mean Frog Alcohol. In days of old, Balinese used to ferment frogs or tadpoles in wine which gave it its name. The more exotic variety is the Arak Tikus, Mouse Wine/Alcohol, which obviously as the name suggests, had the pinkish, newborn mice in it. As Padram related the process of these Arak Hijung as they are classified, both of us cringed at the thought. Even he can’t understand how his ancestors would have liked a beverage containing ‘binatang’ (animals). Amused by the fact of life then, I asked him about his childhood. He grew up in the district of Kintamani but in a village outside of Mount Batur. As a child, he would aspire to have toys and would go to the sundry shops in his neighbourhood and would wish for them. His family didn’t earn much but whatever he could save, he would use the money to buy them later. He said sometimes some kind neighbours would buy him toys and that would make his day. Being a grown up now, he no longer aspires to covet the things he knows he could never get. Life in the village is so simple, unadulterated and blissful. The air is so much cleaner and everything is green. Listening to him, I feel so blessed to have been given so much though so little compared to those who have it all. I do not aspire to get a bigger car, fancier clothes, amass a fortune that I wouldn’t be able to take anywhere. He made me think about the life I have and the life I should be living.
He took me to an orchard called Amertha Yoga Agrotourism to see how coffee and cocoa are grown. We peeled off a piece of the bark of a cinnamon tree to sniff, felt the soft flesh of the cocoa and tossed the pure coffee beans before it was roasted.
We sat down underneath a long wooden gazebo within the orchard to have a variety of beverages they produced; Balinese coffee, Ginger Tea and hot chocolate. Not much of a coffee person, I bought a 500gm pack of cocoa powder instead to last me through next year.
We stopped at Pineh Colada Bali Agro Wisata on the way and had tea and pisang goreng (banana fritters). I shared my fritters with a doggie that came to settle on my feet. The air was beginning to get cool and we were just 10 minutes from the hotel.
Passing the touristy spots at the top of the highlands of Kintamani, we veered off to head down to the large crater by Lake Batur. The view is just amazing. I was shooting from the vehicle and marvelling at how beautiful this place is.
Soon as I checked in and had lunch, I went out for a walk by the lake. I started to feel feverish and headed back to rest only to have a full blown fever, sore throat and body ache. This is so not on. How can I get sick now???
